(Beginning of the Week) Recommendations: DVDs

Here’s yer DVD goodness…we’re a day late. It was New Year’s. You’ll get over it.

DVD of the Week:Mr. & Mrs. Smith. A film that looks like War of the Roses mixed with C-4 and automatic weapons can’t be all bad, can it? It’s entertainment, pure and simple, featuring two Beautiful People armed to the teeth. That’s what you can say for this Fox release, although the DVD is pretty well stocked as well: deleted scenes and commentaries are here to bolster it up. For a silly good time with bullets, sure, turn your brain off and go. (Buy it)

TV DVD of the Week:A Different World: Season One. While you’re waiting for the next boxed set of Cosby Show to smack into shelves, fans should be reminded of this spinoff, the first season of which is released thanks to Urban Works. Lisa Bonet’s Cosby daughter Denise goes off to college, where she would eventually leave the show to more memorable performances by Kadeem Hardison and Jasmine Guy. This set comes with twenty-two episodes across four discs, a lost episode, bloopers, and more. (Buy it)

Anime DVD of the Week:Shadow Star Narutaru, Vol. 4. Central Park Media wraps this series up with the final three episodes. Hiroko is having a rough time at school–a rough time–and things are going to go badly for her tormentors since, you know, she’s got a dragon up her sleeve. This release comes with a director’s commentary, some time with the Japanese voice actors, storyboards, and art galleries. (Buy it)

Animation DVD of the Week:Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers, Vol. 1. Ah, for many this is a huge boon for Disney to have released this and Duck Tales to DVD. Twenty-nine episodes are here over three discs, with the little furry miscreants re-cast as adventurers like little rodent Indiana Jones-types. The original two-hour TV movie that kicked everything off is not included (nor are any extras), but fans will want to check this out regardless. (Buy it)

Family DVD of the Week:Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. People get all riled up about this movie. It’s usually that they’re enamored of the original (and who wouldn’t be, with Gene Wilder, huh?). But with Burton actually doing a decent job directing this time, Depp enjoying himself way too much and great music by Danny Elfman, it’s worth a watch. This two-disc deluxe edition comes with a plethora of goodness, including a featurette on writer Roald Dahl, an attack squirrel featurette (don’t tell Din), the effects behind the Oompa Loompa(s), and more. This hits from Warner Brothers. (Buy it)

Brit DVD of the Week:The Kumars at No. 42. A unique talk show that could only work in Britain (American audiences would just be confounded, sadly), it’s the story of Sanjeev, who brings celebrities into his parents’ back yard to interview for his talk show. Unfortunately, his family can’t help but get in the way, with hilarious results. The celebs are real–with folks like Richard E. Grant, Graham Norton, and Stephen Fry stopping by–but everything else is improv gold. This BBC release comes with commentary, and some unseen footage plus more. (Buy it)

Docu of the Week:The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. In a world where penguins can be stars of what passes for a docu box office blockbuster, of course other animals are going to try and get a piece of that action. Instead of being someplace cold, though, these filmmakers were wise–and chose to feature…well, exactly what the title says. This would be the birds that hang out in San Fran, and their buddy, a homeless musician. This New Video release comes with updates, deleted scenes, home movies, and more. (Buy it)

Adverse Video of the Week:Plan 9 From Outer Space. Usually when we speak of something as “Adverse Video,” we do so because it’s fun to laugh at and disrespect the film in question. Plan 9 is just simply so bad that it comes all the way back around again and is good. Thus it has earned its respect. And while we’re never big fans of colorization, we admit that if you have to have a film colorized, Legend Films are the guys to do it. Their stuff looks…damn near natural. So much so that it’s pretty scary. Legend has restored the film, and added bonuses like Ed Wood’s home movies, commercials, a commentary by MST3K head burrito Mike Nelson and more. If you move your lazy asses, you can order an autographed copy from Legend’s website. So do that thing already. (Buy it from Legend Films)

Comedy DVD of the Week:Airplane!. The movie that launched the Zucker Brothers’ career, spawned numerous catch phrases, and made Bruce Joel Rubin weep when he heard a Zucker was doing Ghost now re-hits DVD in a respectable version from Paramount. It comes with an audio commentary from the aforementioned hermanos plus producer Jon Davidson and co-writer/co-director Jim Abrahams, plus you get sidebar comments from cast and crew, deleted scenes, plus a trivia subtitle track. It certainly better than falling in the mud and getting kicked in the head by an iron boot. (Buy it)

Horror DVD of the Week:Fear Chamber. Boris Karloff, in one of his last films, plays a scientist who discovers an intelligent rock. He and his staff then figure out that what it feeds on are hormones created by humans when they’re having the bejeesus scared out of them. So, in the name of science (of course), they aim to oblige. However, something more sinister is at work here. Big surprise. This Elite release is for a film that, by no means, is anything special apart from the fact that it’s Karloff at the end of his career. But even then, he still is worth watching. It comes with a commentary track and a deleted scene. But more than anything else, I just want the cover art in a frame. Man, I dig that. (Buy it)

Sci-Fi DVD of the Week:Battlestar Galactica: Season 2.0. Sometimes…well, once in twelve blue moons…a remake impresses. That’s the case with this, where, in the first ten episodes of the second season, so much goes down that you almost need a scorecard to keep up. This Universal release comes with moderate amounts of features, including deleted scenes and episode commentaries on seven of the ten here from executive producer Ronald Moore. All of this is spread across three discs. (Buy it)